City of Darkness
by zizicat
Summary: When sixteen-year-old Jena heads out to her best friend's birthday party, she hardly expects to be chased by Nightmare horses— much less see it be killed by a young boy who had the ability to control ice.
1. Full Description

When sixteen-year-old Jena heads out to her best friend's birthday party, she hardly expects to be chased by Nightmare horses— much less see it be killed by a young boy who had the ability to control ice.

Startled by her ability to see him, the boy explains himself as a Guardian: they were created and chosen by Manny, the Man in the Moon, to protect the dreams of children from the Nightmare King, Pitch, and bring joy to the world. When she returns home, Jena's mother is kidnapped by Pitch and has no choice but to join the Guardians to save her mother.


	2. Chapter 1

Inside, the house was full of dry-ice smoke. Strobe lights played over the room, turning it into a multicoloured city of blues and red and gold.

"So," Harry said, "pretty good music, eh?

Jena didn't reply. They were dancing, lot of swaying back and forth. Jena wasn't paying much attention to their immediate surroundings—parties like these were not her style, but for the sake of her best friend, Harry, she had no choice but to adjure it all.

Jena rolled her eyes and didn't answer; she hated club music. Through the darkness, she saw it. She didn't know what but it was there. A flash of darkness in the world of bright lights.

Jena slowed her dancing and stared. She could just make out that the shapes were not human, and more animal-like. Suddenly, she lunged forward towards the hard floor, and began to tremble. A searing pain ached through her. In her mind, she sees a memory. A young Jena playing in a field of flower, she sees her mother, and then a strange figure standing next to her.

"Hey!" Harry cried out, leaning down to grab his friend. His pushed his dark curls out of his face, as he helps Jena to her feet. "Jena! Are you okay?"

"I'm- I'm okay," she mutters. "I'm not feeling well,"

Slowly she turned back to Harry, knowing how she must so stupid right now.

"I'm sorry," she said lamely. "I'm gonna go home." She glanced from Harry, whose expression was dead set on worry. "It was a mistake coming here when I felt so ill."

Behind her, she heard the clamping of a horse.

Harry had called a taxi for her. He yanked the door open and allows Jena to slide into the plastic backseat while he tells the man her address and then he turned to Jena. "Look, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

She hesitated a moment, then nodded. He wouldn't believe her if she said she thought she saw a dark horse in the middle of Burgess. "Sure, Harry," she said. "Happy Birthday."

He slammed the cab door, and the taxi took off. Once it turned a corner, Jena told the cab driver to stop, paid him the full fee and climbed out. It was too stuffy in the car, and she needed to breathe.

What happened in Harry's house? For once she felt something inside of her, a feeling she never felt before.

Fear.

The memory itself looked happy but Jena couldn't shake away the feeling of it not being a good one.

A sob began to rise in Jena's chest. What was that?

A noise sounded through the street, like something being knocked over. Then she could hear the clamping of horse feet. Jena turned around slowly.

For a moment she thought the street was empty, and she felt a wave of relief. Then she looked up.

It was standing up on the roof. A long horse-like creature with yellow eyes that glittered in the moonlight. It moved swiftly, leaving dark residue that fell slowly to the ground like dust.

A shriek tore itself out of Jena's throat. She staggered backward, tripped, and fell, just as the creature lunged at her. She rolled to the side and it missed her by centimetres.

She scrambled to her feet and ran toward the busy road, but the thing was too fast for her. It sprang again, landing swiftly on top of her. She fell to the floor, and rolled onto her back. The thing was on top of her. Backing away, she seized a glass bottle from the street and flung it at the monster. It hit the head of the monster, which allowed her enough time to squirm from it clutches.

Jena's back hit the wall. She could back up no farther. The creature hurtled into her, she moved just in time for it to bash into the wall.

Looking almost surprised, the creature jerked back, it began to shudder and move uncontrollably. Suddenly the thing began to twitch. Black dust poured from its mouth, and as it did it began to freeze. Slowly, the creature became a dark ice sculpture.

Gasping for air, Jena rolled over and started to scramble away from the thing. She'd nearly reached the door when she heard something whistle through the air next to her head, as if something flew past her. A flash of blue, and a cold chill blew straight past. It landed on a nearby park, and left a trail of ice. Jenna though to herself, no don't go, just run and don't look back.

But she couldn't help it.

She walked into the park, her clothes snagged on the thorny brambles. She tried not to slip and slide as much.

Suddenly, she heard a voice.

She took a step forward, tangling her feet in the leaves. She bent down —and heard voices. When she straightened up, she saw them.

It was as if they had sprung into existence. There was a boy wearing a blue hooded sweater, with frost collecting around the ring of the collar. He had white hair, striking bright blue eyes and pale skin. What confused Jena was that he walked bear-footed. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, facing something, and when she peered closer. She saw it wasn't human.

It was short, garbed in an outfit made of sand like material as a night robe. His hair is short, golden and styled into five points.

"We need to tell the others, sandy," the boy said. There was no reply as the golden thing communicated through sand images that he conjured above his head. "It could be dangerous, I mean, it is _just_ one nightmare but it could lead to more. Pitch might be rising again."

She watched as the boy paced back and forth, his arms now crossed over his chest. "Let's go, sandy." he said.

This was her only chance. She stepped out from behind the trees. "Stop!" she cried. "Don't go!"

The boy whirled, so startled that he dropped his staff, with a G-shaped arch. The yellowman turned along with him, wearing identical expressions of astonishment.

It was the boy who spoke first.

"Who are you?" he demanded, looking from Jena to his friend, as if they might know what she was doing there.

The Yellowman took a step closer to Jenna, squinting as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, then create a sand image of a girl above his head.

"A young woman, I know that, and she can see us," he said, and smirked slightly. "Aren't you a bit too old to believe in the Guardians?"

"Of course I can see you,"Jena said. "I'm not blind, you know—."

"Oh, but you are," said the boy, bending to pick up his staff. "You'd better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jena said. "If I do, then I won't understand what the hell just happened with that horse thing,"

"You saw it?" the boy stared.

Jena crossed her arms. "Of course, I did, it was trying to attack _me,_"

"Wait- it was trying to go to you!" the boy looked perplexed. "I mean, why would it need to attack you?"

"What is it?" Jena asked.

"It's a nightmare, little girl," said the boy softly. "Monsters created using the fear of little children, but in your case a young adult—"

"My name is not 'little girl,'" Jenna interrupted. "And I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't believe in—whatever you—"

Jena was about to continue when her phones buzzed. It was her mother.

_Where are you? It's an emergency?_

She was half-way through the process of texting back but was interrupted by buzzing noise. Her phone was ringing.

"Go ahead and answer that if you like," the boy said generously. "by the way, my name's Jack, in case you weren't going to ask,"

She raised her phone to her ear. "Mom?"

"Don't come home! Do you understand me, Jena? Don't you dare come home. Stay at Harry's." her voice shook, and felt as if she running somewhere.

"Mom!" Jena shouted into the phone. "Mom, are you all right?"

A loud buzzing noise came from the phone.

And then the phone went dead.

"Mom!" Jena shrieked into the phone. "Are you there?"

"Hey," Jack said."What's going on?"

Jena ignored him. Feverishly she hit the button that dialled her home number. There was no answer.

Tearing herself free from the trees, Jena ran toward the streets, ignoring Jack's calls to come back.

When she reached the street, she spun around, and saw that they both disappeared. For a moment she stared, and then she spun on her heel and ran for home.


	3. Chapter 2

Jogging up the street toward her house, she saw that the first-floor windows were lit, but the kitchen. Okay, she told herself. She's okay. But her stomach tightened the moment she stepped into the doorway. Shivering, she began to look around.

"Damn, you run fast," said a voice.

Jena whirled. "What—"

Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and she could see the shape of a thin boy. In the dimness Jena could see Jack. She frowns at him.

"Why the hell did you follow me home!"

"Because you got attacked by a nightmare horse, and it's my part of my job to get rid of them,"

With a feeling of increasing panic, she completely ignored Jack as she pushed the door to the living room open.

"Hey, Hey! Humans that come in contact with nightmare horses can experience terrible effects." Jack continued.

All the lights were on, all the lamps, everything turned up to full brightness. Her mother's keys and handbag were on the small iron shelf by the door.

"Mom?" Jena called out. "Mom, I'm home."

There was no reply. Both windows were open, the white curtains blowing in the breeze like ghosts. Jena could see that the cushions had been scattered around the room. The bookshelves had been tipped over, their contents scattered and ripped.

Jena felt a scream rising up in her chest: "Mom!" she shrieked. "Where are you?"

Jena turned her head to the side and felt stab of pain that shot down her back and arms. She was now lying on a patch of grass outside her house. It partially hid her view of the street, where a police car was pulled up to the curb

The police. She tried to sit up, and vomited, fingers trembling into the damp earth.

"I told you not to move," Jack hissed. "You must've inhaled some of the nightmare horses sand, I'll take you back to North's place. Hold still."

"My—mo—mother." Jena was shuddering uncontrollably.

To Jena's relief the pain in the back of her neck had faded. "The police are here." Her voice came out like croak. "We should—"

"There's nothing they can do. Those aren't real police officers. Pitch's nightmares have a way of hiding their tracks."

"My mom," Jena said.

"There's nightmare poison coursing through you right now. You'll be dead in an hour if you don't come with me." He got to his feet and held out a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her upright.

The world shook. Jack held her steady. He smelt fresh like newly fallen snow. "Can you walk?"

"I think so."

Jena felt her knees buckle. Jack's staff touched her wrist, leaving a cold chill through her body "What's that supposed to do?"

"It'll hide you," he said. "Temporarily."

Jena didn't ask how. She was busy trying not to fall over.

"Jack," she said, and she fell into him. He caught her and he swung her up into his arms, saying something in her ear that sounded like Workshop. And then came the darkness.

* * *

"Do you think she'll ever wake up? It's been a few hours already."

"You have to give her time. She's a human girl... and nice teeth by the look of it,"

"Tooth! Don't touch her while she's unconsciously,"

Three days, Jena thought slowly. I have to wake up.

But she couldn't.

The dreams held her, like a child clasping their favourite toy.

She saw her mother lying in a dark room. She saw Jack, standing atop of frozen bodies. And then she saw Sandy created twisted dark images with his sand.

"Sometimes I wonder if he—Look! She moved!"

"I guess she's alive after all, I'll tell the others,"

Jena's eyes peeled slowly open and blinked..

Painfully she hauled herself into a sitting position. She glanced around. She was tucked into a linen-sheeted bed. Her bed had a small nightstand beside a cup on it.

"So, you're finally awake," said a quiet voice. "Jack will be pleased."

Jena turned, and gasped quietly. She wasn't sure what she could see was human. The voice belonged to a woman. She has tan skin and violet eyes. Instead of hair, she has feathers and instead of clothes, her entire body seems to be covered in mini feathers. Around her wrists and ankles there seem to be golden lines that appear to look like golden bracelets and golden anklets.

"Where am I?" Jena coughed.

She smiled. "One of North's spare rooms." She walked closer to Jena. "I'm Toothiana or Tooth, by the way. I'm the toothfairy."

" I'm Jena. Jena. Did Jack bring me here?" Her head hurt too much to question.

Isabelle nodded. "North was furious. It's close to Christmas and it's his busiest time." She looked at Jena more narrowly, before turn to these small fairies that hover around her. "Molars, china, UK"

She turned back to Jena. "Jack told us you encountered a nightmare, which must've been horrible."

"Horrible," Jena said. "Where is Jack? Is he around?"

Tooth shrugged. "Somewhere," she said. "I should go tell everyone you're up. North 'll want to talk to you."

"I'm guessing North is Santa Claus, right?"

She giggled. "That's right," She pointed. "The bathroom's through there, and I hung some old Christmas clothes up for you, sorry it was all we had,"

Jena hugged the sheet around herself. "What happened to my clothes?"

"Jack threw them away, they were covered in nightmare dust, and that made the Yetis uncomfortable,"

"Did he?" asked Jena. "Tell me, what is with Jack? It seems like he's got a huge chip on his shoulder,"

For a fleeting moment Tooth looked uncomfortable. "Because for the past 300 years no one believed in him, therefore no one could see him, and he's just getting used to it."

Jena's mouth opened in surprise. "What about his family?"

"No." Tooth fidgeted. "He died by preventing his sister from falling into a frozen lake."

"Oh," Jena said.

Tooth got to her feet. The clothes are in the bathroom," she added. "You might want to clean up a little. You smell, and the Yeti's won't be too fond of it,"

"Thanks a lot."

"Any time."

The clothes look and felt ridiculous. She wore a huge Christmas jumper that looked lumpy, and dark faded jeans. She cleaned up in the small bathroom. She squinted at her reflection in the mirror.

Her first thought was her mother. Celia Black was a thin woman who constantly wore brightly colored shirts. She had high cheekbones, and long eyelashes, and when she puts her dark hair up at night in a pixie like way, she almost looked like Jena.

I have to call Harry, she thought. Surely there was a phone around here somewhere. Wherever she was.

In the distance she could hear a faint noise, like train coming into a station. She set off down the corridor slowly, staring at the walls. The wallpaper was faded with age, burgundy and pale silver. Each side of the corridor was lined with closed doors.

Turning the corner, she came to a doorway, the door fully open. Jack was seated at a large wooden table, his slender hands fiddling with his staff. He was barefoot, dressed in the clothes Jena had first seen him in, his white hair ruffled up around his head as if he'd just woken up.

He twisted around on the chair, blinking into the shadows. "Bunny?" he said. "Is that you?"

"It's not .. um.. Bunny. It's me." She stepped farther into the room.

"Ah- you're finally awake." Jake squinted at her. "Are those the spare Christmas clothes, they look ridiculous on you,

"I could point out that you threw my clothes out."

"Come on, I'll take you to the others."

"Wait," said Jenna. "These people— Tooth, North, Sandy and Bunny. They're the only people here,"

"Yes."

"That must get kind of lonely."

"When you spend three hundred years alone, even one person can remove the feeling of loneliness," He pushed the doors open. After a second's hesitation she followed him inside.


	4. Chapter 3

The room was circular, and the walls were lined with toy pieces, with shelves so high you needed casters. The floor was polished wood, and the inlay formed a pattern. In the centre of the room sat a large globe that lit up with small lights, signalling something that Jena didn't know.

Standing next to it, was an immense man; tall and a little rotund. He has bright blue eyes, thick black eyebrows, and a long white beard and moustache. He wore a black fur hat, a long red coat with black fur trim, and a red plaid shirt. He has the words "naughty" and "nice" are tattooed on each forearm. So, she thought, this is Santa Claus. Next to him was what got Jena gaping.

It was a large rabbit that stood between six to seven feet tall, with greyish-blue hair and bright green eyes. He wore leather bracers and leather wrapping on his feet.

"Is this the little Sheila?" he said, smiling at Jena. "You didn't tell me that she was a cutie, Jack?"

Jack chuckled.

"She just got attacked by a nightmare, Bunny, I'm afraid our interest in her appearance didn't come up."

Jena turned around and shot him a glare. He tilted his head slightly, and smiled. Harry did that whenever she got mad.

"Harry," Jena said. Jack frowned. "My friend. It's been a few hours and I left his house sick—he must be frantic. Can I call him? Is there a phone?" She turned to North. "Please."

North hesitated, looking at Bunny, who nodded and moved aside and pointed to an old-fashioned black telephone with a silver rotary dial.

Harry picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Harry! It's me. It's Jena."

"Jena." He sounded different. She couldn't quite identify how he sounded right now. "You're all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't call you before. My mom—"

"The police were here."

"What did the police say?"

"Just that you two were missing." He said "Where are you?"

"I'm at a friend's place," Jena said. "I don't know where exactly. Is it okay with your parents if I sta—"

"No," he said shortly.

"What?"

"No," he said. "It's too dangerous. You can't come here."

"We could call—

"Whatever you and your mother's gotten yourselves into, it's nothing to do with me. You're better off where you are."

Tears burned the backs of her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just—"

"Don't call me again," he said, and hung up the phone.

She stood and stared at the receiver. She dialled his number again, waited. This time it went to voice mail. Her hands had begun to tremble.

Jack was leaning against the armrest of a red chair, watching her. "I take it he wasn't happy to hear from you?"

I will not cry, she thought, Not in front of these people.

"I think I'd like to have a talk with Jena," said North. "Alone," he added firmly, seeing Jack's expression.

Jack stood up. "But, I'm the one who saved her life! You want me here, don't you?" he said, turning to Jena.

"Not everyone wants you all the time,," she said bitterly.

"Fine, then. We'll be in the other room."

The door closed behind them with a definitive click. North loomed in front of Jena.

"Sit down," he said.

She sinks into the soft sofa, and her cheeks were now wet. She quickly brushed them away.

"Is there anything I could get for you?" he asked. "Something to drink? Some tea?"

. "I want to find my mother. And then I want kill them the person who took her,"

"Unfortunately," said Hodge, "That's is impossible,"

"Why? Do you know who took her?"

"Yes,"

Jena frowned. "Then why don't you tell me? What's their name?"

"It's a name we all know," North said shortly. His voice was steady, but she could see a slight tremble in his hands.

"Pitch,"

"Excuse me?"

"Pitch Black," he said. "The bogeyman stole your mother,"

Jena sank back against the couch cushions. Her head was throbbing. "The bogeyman doesn't exist," she said.

"Yet here you are talking to Santa Claus,"

Her laugh was short and quick.

"No. But what would the bogeyman want with my mother?"

North stood up again. "I don't know. But I shall do what I can to find out. I will send to the Tooth's place, you can find your teeth there, and your memories, They may help us."

Jena didn't ask about the tooth thing. She was tired of asking questions whose answers only made her more confused. She stood up. "When can I go?"

North looked concerned. "No, I—I wouldn't think that would be wise."

"I want to fix this, and I want to fix this as quickly as possible—"

"You need rest,"

"Please," Jena said. "I have to see if— I have to know."

North hesitated, and then offered a short, inverted nod. "If Jack agrees to it, you may both go. He'll take you to tooth's," He turned to the desk, rummaging among the papers, lists and lists of children's names. He glanced over his shoulder as if realizing she was still there. "Just follow the ice trails; you'll find him eventually,"

"Thank you," Jena said.


End file.
